Destiny
by Omega the Mighty
Summary: AU What if Zasalamel hadn't been manipulating everything from the shadows? What if Raphael had taken Soul Edge? What if there was an even greater darkness behind that accursed blade? Chapter 2 up finally!
1. Free at Last

Omega: Hiya! This is my first story, so no flames please?

Albedo: Why not? It sucks in my opinion.

Omega: Shut up and do the disclaimer.

Albedo: Fine. Ahem…

Disclaimer: Omega the Mighty does not own Soul Calibur, Soul Calibur 2, or any of its characters, places, or concepts.

Albedo: That good enough for you?

Chapter 1: Free at Last

Near the ruins of a castle, a man lay, trapped in a nightmare. Screams of terror and agony surrounded him. No matter how much he thrashed and flailed, he could not escape their pained cries.

'Help!'

'Save us!'

'Ahhh!'

With that final scream, Siegfried Schtauffen awoke with a start. The blond man didn't bother even to open his eyes, for he knew that with a single command, his infernal master, Soul Edge, would move his body.

No command came.

Siegfried waited, but still no command came. Half-dazed, and still convinced he was under Soul Edge's control, he extended his right arm to search for it.

Two things happened at this time. One, a searing pain shot up his arm as he attempted to move it. This puzzled him, but not as much as the second thing that happened. He noticed, for the first time he had awaken, that his arm was different. It was no longer the monstrous claw it had once been. It was… normal.

Siegfried struggled to find a reason for this. He lay there for uncountable hours, pondering. And slowly it dawned on him. Soul Edge was gone. He was free.

"Free," he said through cracked lips.

It was slowly coming back to him. The warrior, Raphael, he had called himself. He had held a rapier and had blond hair, though not as long as Siegfried. Judging by his accent, Siegfried had assumed he was French. Raphael had challenged Siegfried… no, he had challenged Nightmare.

He had attacked relentlessly, without mercy, and had given him the painful gash on his arm that made it so difficult to move.

But, most importantly, he had taken Soul Edge, the accursed blade that had controlled Siegfried for years.

Laughing, he had left him like this, half dead, in the ruins of Ostreinsburg Chapel. Now Siegfried knew his survival was in his hands.

Slowly, painfully, he arose. He wandered away from the chapel, for how long or how far he knew not. All he knew is that, eventually, he came to a river.

He looked at his reflection in the water. If it wasn't for the blood, he would have seen the pitiful man who had sought Soul Edge to avenge his father.

He dwelt on this thought for some time. It was the first time he had thought about it for a long time, and he wondered to himself, _'Why did I do it? Why did I kill my own father? And why, no matter how hard I try, can't I remember it?'_

He shoved these thoughts aside for now, knelt down to drink, for he was dying of thirst. But his body had finally given out. He collapsed beside the river, his blood mingling with the water.

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Far from Ostriensburg Chapel, the swordsman Raphael stood. The wind blew painfully into his blue eyes, and blew his blond hair wildly.

He had immediately decided to stay away from the main roads and most public transportation, like ships.

For many sought the blade that he now held.

He looked at the sword Soul Edge. It seemed to not only be made of metal, but flesh.

He smiled at the demonic blade and said, "Enjoy your last act, demon. For when your usefulness wanes, I will destroy you."

The blade remained silent, as if denying him.

As he stood, he let his thoughts wonder, and stumbled upon the memory of a certain little girl.

A certain little girl he would do anything for.

"Soon, _ma belle angel_," he said into the wind, "soon I'll be back."

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Late in the day, a fisherman was strolling by the river where he caught fish. He was an old man, 'old as the hills,' as he put it. His gray hair was almost non-existent, and he had a merry look in his blue eyes.

He wore simple clothes, and he had a simple life. But that was enough for him. As long as he had his daughter with him, he couldn't be happier.

He had taken a stroll down the banks off the river expecting to find nothing but wonderful scenery and refreshing air. That, and a good place to fish.

But what he found was a man wearing battered armor and covered in blood.

The man was blond haired and, if he wasn't covered in blood, he would have been fairly handsome. Most of this blood, he noticed, was coming from a horrible gash in his right arm.

He saw immediately that the man needed medical help, so he shoved him into his boat, which was docked close by. As he did so, he couldn't help but notice something metallic in the gash in his arm.

The man was clearly asleep, but it was a disturbed sleep. He kept muttering something, over and over again. At first, the fisherman couldn't understand the words, but eventually he was able to make out this:

"Free," the man said, "Free at last."

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Omega: So, what do you think?

Albedo: It was a little short.

Yoshimitsu: And not very descriptive.

Albedo: And what was with those dividers?

Omega: You guys are muses, not critics.

Smeagol: We liked it, we did!

Omega: Thank you. Now, Yoshi, why don't you do your job?

Yoshi: Gladly. It is my designated duty to give a sneak peek at the next chapter. So…

Next chapter will include two well-known pirates and there destined battles, plus two other characters, though I will not disclose whom. All I will say is that they to are destined battles for each other, and will play a large roll in the story. There will also be a certain samurai and ninja. Meetings and alliances shall be made in…

Chapter Two: Unexpected Unions.

Note: About the little bit of French I put in here, I don't pretend to be fluent in the language. If I messed up somewhere, you are free to tell me, but don't flame, okay?


	2. Unexpected Unions

Omega: (enters room) Hi everybody!

Albedo, Yoshi, and Sméagol: (Dieing of starvation)

Omega: Oh, sorry guys. My computer has been evil. Took a while to fix it.

Albedo: And you didn't even leave us anything to eat? I'm starving here!

Omega: I don't see what you're so worried about, Albedo. You're immortal.

Sméagol: Whats this, precious?

Omega: Yeah, you decapitate Albedo and his limbs just grow right back.

Sméagol: (Looks at Albedo hungrily)

Albedo: Don't. Even. Think. About. It.

Sméagol: (Jumps on Albedo) FOOOOOOOOOOD!

Albedo: GET THIS THING OFF ME!

Omega: Well, I guess you have to do the disclaimer today, Yoshi.

Yoshi: It would be my pleasure.

Disclaimer: Omega does not in any way own Soul Calibur 1, 2, or 3, or any of their characters, places, and ideas.

Omega: Sorry it took so long, but here's chapter 2!

Chapter 2: Unexpected Unions

Ostrienburg was the climax of many an adventure. Stories of characters from chivalrous knights to bloodthirsty killers had all come to there end at this place. And in another part of the castle, another story seemed to be coming to an end.

A woman lay on the ground, beaten and weak. Here silver hair was stained with blood, and her clothing, which already didn't cover much of her, was in tatters. Her blood red eyes were burning in hatred.

For she was not alone.

With her in the ruin was a man. His garb immediately identified him as a pirate, but he was unlike any other pirate in the world. His skin was deathly pale, and his eyes, while burning with malice and sadistic delight, were blank, without pupils. He looked as though he had just crawled out from the grave.

Which, in fact, wasn't very far from the truth.

"Soon, my dear daughter," he said in a mock comfort voice, "soon all this pain will be ended."

He said this because around the throat of his daughter, was her own weapon, the living snake sword Valentine.

"This…… isn't….. over yet……. Cervantes," the woman said defiantly, albeit with a little difficulty.

"Why is it that you never call me Father, Ivy dear?" the man named Cervantes asked.

"Because, that is a title you don't deserve," Ivy retorted.

"Ah, witty as ever," Cervantes said, smirking.

"Well, I'd love to stay here and chat, but I've got a sword to get. I'm afraid I'll have to kill you now. But don't be afraid. You can take my word on this: Hell isn't that bad."

He then turned the blades of the weapon inwards, towards Ivy's throat. He was ready to make a simple tug, and sever her head from her body. But he never got a chance, because at that moment, something happened that he didn't expect.

In fact, nobody had really expected it.

Something came flying through the ruin wall. It took Ivy a minute to see that it was an enormous statue of a man, that held an axe in it's hand. That was surprising enough, but when the statue _moved _Ivy was figuratively blown off her feet. She was looking at a golem, a living statue.

But she didn't have time to just stare at the thing. Ivy saw that another man, presumable in combat with the golem, was climbing through the hole in the wall. Ivy turned to run. Cowardice was not something she was known for, but intelligence was. She knew that in the state she was in, she wouldn't survive if she stayed. Not even looking to see what had become of her father or her weapon, she fled.

Elsewhere in the castle, another battle was taking place. It was between a male samurai in traditional armor, and a female ninja in a red skin-tight outfit. The ninja was dancing circles around the slow samurai.

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"Is that the best you can do, Mitsurugi?" she laughed.

"Not even close, Taki," he responded, spinning his katana in a 360 circle.

Taki ducked and, still laughing, brought her foot out and tripped her opponent. Then, standing upright once again, she brought one of her short swords down in a killing blow.

Misturugi rolled out of the way just in time, and then rose to his feet, entering his battle stance once again.

Their combat almost began again, when it was interrupted by two newcomers, locked in a battle of their own.

Taki jumped out of the way as the combatants came crashing through the wall, and then just as quickly departed. She rose and prepared to resume her battle, when she realized that it had just been ended.

Misturugi lay on the ground before her, his own sword embedded into his gut, his hand still on the hilt. Apparently, he had attempted to sheath his sword as he dodged the oncoming threat, but had been hit and his hand must have slipped. But by the soft movement of his chest, Taki could see he was still alive.

A part of her wanted to just leave him there, or even finish the job. But somewhere deep down, something inside her felt pity for the man before her.

"I'm going to regret this," she said as she dragged his body away.

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At last, only two battles remained, one taking place about the whole castle, and one in a single room. In that room were two friends fighting to protect each other.

One of them, a woman, was dressed in blue and wielded a nameless sword. She had brown hair and eyes.

Eyes that were usually filled with so much joy, but now filled with only the deepest sorrow.

"Please, turn back Kilik!" she pleaded to her opponent as she struck.

Kilik, a man wearing an open red robe and black pants, wasn't about to comply.

"I'll deal with this, Xianghua," he said as he blocked her blow with his staff, "so just get out of here!"

He pushed away her sword and turned around to gain momentum for an attack of his own. His brown hair wiped around his face as he attacked.

Xianghua ducked under his attack and then stood upright again.

"I can't do that, Kilik," she stated simply.

"Then I will do what I must," Kilik said mournfully.

Preparing to strike again, he was interrupted by a crashing sound behind him.

He and Xianghua looked to see what was causing the disturbance, and were surprised to see two familiar figures.

The first was a giant golem, with what appeared to be a heart clearly visible on it's chest. A small amount of armor hid a portion of his face, from the nose down. He wielded a hefty axe.

The second figure was a man with oddly styled black hair. He wore a decorative vest and white pants. In his hands were a set of flailing nunchaku, with which he was mercilessly assaulting the golem.

Upon seeing the second figure, Kilik's eyes widened and Xianghua gasped. For that was the figure of a close friend.

A friend they thought to be dead.

The man attacked the golem relentlessly, siphoning all his rage into a great blitzkrieg. With one final, and obviously fatal strike, he sent the golem flying through another wall and out of sight.

"And this time, STAY DEAD!" he shouted after it, and then turned.

It seemed that he wasn't aware of their presence before, because he seemed startled. He went into his battle position and prepared to defend himself, but then stopped. The faint hints of recognition were on his face.

"Wait," he said, "you…….. I know you……"

"It can't be," Kilik said in a disbelieving, but happy voice.

Tears of joy began filling Xianghua's eyes and she quietly said, "Maxi……?"

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Slowly, consciousness came back to Cervantes. He did not know how long he had been out, but he saw immediately that his daughter was gone. Groaning, he rose to his feet.

And then he saw it. The golem. The one that had crashed into him. It had obviously been defeated, for it was motionless, and that which appeared to be it's heart was still.

"This one could be useful," Cervantes said as he reached into his pocket and withdrew a shard of metal.

But not just any metal. That accursed thing was a shard of Soul Edge.

With a flick of his wrist, he sent it flying towards the golem's heart. It made contact, then momentarily stopped. Then, slowly, it began to sink in. As soon as it was no longer visible, the heart began to beat.

Slowly the giant rose. He looked upon Cervantes and asked, "Who are you?"

"I'm the one you owe you're life to," Cervantes responded with a smile.

If the golem's mouth could have been seen, it would have been smiling as well.

"So, what do you want?" he asked.

"Quite simply," Cervantes said, "I desire your assistance in a little quest of mine. Namely, to obtain the sword Soul Edge."

The golem eyed the pirate suspiciously.

"If I were to help you," he said, "I wouldn't be a subordinate. I would be your equal in this."

"Of course," Cervantes said, extending his hand.

"So do we have a deal?"

The golem took his hand.

"Deal."

"Wonderful," Cervantes said, "Just wonderful. I'm Cervantes. And you are?"

The golem stood tall and stated proudly, "Call me Astaroth."

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Omega: So, what do you think?

Albedo: (Regrowing his arm) I hate you.

Omega: I mean the fic, moron.

Sméagol: (Eating Albedo's arm) We likes it!

Yoshi: Indeed. A definite improvement over the last chapter.

Omega: Thanks guys. Okay, since Yoshi did the disclaimer, it's only fair that Albedo does the teaser for the next chapter.

Albedo: Fine.

Next chapter, we get to see what became of that idiotic samurai and ninja. I can't wait till they kill each other! Also, Talim enters the scene, as well as this moron, Yoshimitsu.

Yoshi: Hey, take that back!

Albedo: Make me!

(Fight ensues)

Omega: This is what I get for letting Albedo do the teaser.

Review Replies

**Swordstuff**: Well thanks a lot. Really, I just love constructive criticism.

**Taoisman**: Once again, I appreciate the constructive criticism. It helps me write better. And you wouldn't think my muses were so funny if _you _had to live with them.

**Veronica the Mischievous**: Thank you very much, and don't worry, I'll keep writing.

Note: If someone can tell me how the heck to get a decent looking divider on here, please tell me! I'm using Microsoft Word.


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